Spies recruited in Syria are crushing Isis terrorist attack plots on Britain, MI6 chief says

SPIES recruited by British intelligence agencies are helping to crush Islamic State plots in Syria by infiltrating their cells, the head of MI6 indicated yesterday.

Spy chief Alex Younger gave a rare speech within the spy HQ in London to disclose that MI6 agents were "taking the fight to the enemy" by penetrating terror organisations "upstream".

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The spy boss said that intelligence gained from undercover agents has helped MI5 to identify and stop threats within the UK.

“I will not seek to hide the challenges that come with work against an organisation as murderously efficient as Daesh [Isis], but MI6 and GCHQ intelligence has on numerous occasions given MI5 and the police the information they need to identify and stop threats in the UK and to our allies,” Mr Younger said.

He added that the threats to the UK had never been seen before - 12 attacks have been stopped in the UK since 2013 alone.

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“As I speak, the highly organised external attack planning structures within Daesh . . . are plotting ways to project violence against the UK and our allies without ever having to leave Syria,” Mr Younger said.

British intelligence agencies recruit spies to work for them to help disrupt plots and gain vital information from terrorists abroad.

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He warned of the "increasingly dangerous" cyber attacks and propaganda operations that he said were posing a "fundamental threat" to our democracy.

Mr Younger, known as 'C' said the internet had turned the work of intelligence agencies on its head.

“The risks at stake are profound and represent a fundamental threat to our sovereignty; they should be a concern to all those who share democratic values,” he added.

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The MI6 chief also warned that Russia is worsening the threat towards Britain with its aggressive support of the bombing campaign in Syria.

If President Putin and the tyrannical Assad regime does not relent and agree to peace talks, he predicted they will reap a whirlwind by radicalising potentially millions more.

Dubbing the fate of Syria’s biggest city “a human tragedy” and “heart breaking”, Mr Younger insisted: “In Aleppo, Russia and the Syrian regime seek to make a desert and call it peace.